True loss.

I can still remember the very first time I saw her. My heart skipped a beat, and I just knew she was going to somehow be a part of my life. When I close my eyes, every moment flashes past in fast-forward, brief glimpses of our first conversation, our first dance, the moment we told one another we loved each other…stolen kisses, break-ups, make-ups.

I always expected her to be a part of my life in one way or another.

But now she’s gone. Gone forever.

And I wasn’t ready; even though I sadly knew it would happen eventually.

I have met very few people as good as her. As kind, optimistic, and strong as her.

She fought hard, but more incredible was the fight she inspired in so many others.

She changed lives, always for the better, and never with an agenda or selfish motivation.

She gave us strength, even when she had little of her own, without even trying.

We didn’t end up together, our happily ever afters came from other people, but we never stopped being a part of one another’s lives. You never forget your first love, your high school sweetheart. You never forget the impact people make on your life. We were friends far longer than lovers, and I never regretted where our relationship evolved.

More to wit, I treasured it all the more.

She’ll never be gone. She will live on in so many fond memories and within the hearts of everyone whom she knew.

The world lost one of the strongest, bravest, most selfless women ever to breathe the sweet air of life, and I lost a woman I will love and respect for so long as I have a soul.

She was my friend, my first love and my Winnie Cooper, and the world is a little less beautiful without her.